If there is one cake that my husband seriously cannot resist it is Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. It is his all-time favorite. If he could he would eat a whole cake all by himself. He is not a fan of sharing his carrot cake but I make him. The kids and I love carrot cake too. It is good stuff and we can pretend it is healthy since it has carrots in it. Screw that, it is healthy because it has carrots in it.

I remember the first time I had carrot cake. I was over at a friend’s house for a play date. This is extra memorable because it wasn’t one of my neighborhood friends. Her mom gave us a snack and it was carrot cake. I had never had it before but I liked it.  The next time I had carrot cake was as an adult and newly married to my husband. He told me it was his favorite cake and I decided he needed one.

I soon discovered that carrot cake mix and store-bought cakes were not going to work. I have odd food allergies, pineapple, and coconut. Who knew they were ingredients to carrot cake, well some of them. I sure didn’t. I then went on a mission to find the best carrot cake recipe out there! After all homemade, from scratch cakes are the best! The recipe came out of a cookbook I had bought thinking every family needed a Betty Crocker cookbook. After all my mom had one as did my grandma along with the classic Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Anyways, back in 1999 we didn’t have a home computer with internet (that came in 2000) and forget about smartphones.  Cookbooks and handed down recipes were the way to go when you needed a recipe.

I grated my carrots by hand and put my recipe together, only tweaking a little bit here and there making it my own. Then I waited for my husband to come home and it was a success! I have now been making this carrot cake for 16 years and the only part I have played with over the years was finding the perfect cream cheese frosting to go with it. I have even successfully been able to make it gluten-free. I have made this carrot cake for cake auctions, bake sales, team parties and just for friends and it has never disappointed. It really is that good!

If you like carrot cake as much as my family does this recipe needs to be added to your to-make list. It is tried and true and doesn’t disappoint. Make it for yourself and your family and friends and let me know if you like it as much as we do!

Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from Allrecipes.com